A good friend of ours is a US Army officer, a paratrooper. Five years ago, he had the opportunity to jump into France as a part of the 70th anniversary ceremonies commemorating D-Day.
He jumped with this flag, which hangs in my office.
Here’s a video of his jump. He went out the door of a German plane on a beautiful day over Normandy.
That view makes it difficult to imagine jumping into the dark, knowing the enemy you’ve been training for is waiting below.
Ernie Pyle came ashore soon after and helped people back home understand what the men and boys in Europe were up against:
"Pyle’s first column about the D-Day landings, published on June 12, 1944, gave his readers an honest accounting of how daunting the invasion had been…"
Ernie Pyle's desk is one floor below me. His personal effects are two floors away.https://t.co/NAcikTWrMn pic.twitter.com/HD2jienjzK
— Kenny Smith (@kennysmith) June 5, 2019
And then, of course, Ronald Reagan talked about some of those famous exploits at the 40th anniversary:
"We've learned that isolationism never was and never will be an acceptable response to tyrannical governments with an expansionist intent… The strength of America's allies is vital to the United States and the American security guarantee is essential…" https://t.co/8IHYFfryBt
— Kenny Smith (@kennysmith) June 6, 2019